Have you have eaten at or come across a restaurant with an unusual or funny name? Lots of time the name is more intriguing than the menu, and it is usually the thing you remember long after?

For me,
The Crabby Oyster -- southern VA seafood house
The Happy Clam -- Fredericksburg VA
Shang Chai -- Kosher Chinese in Brooklyn (chai is Hebrew symbol for luck)
Chip n' Dales -- the names of the 2 owners of a rather seedy diner in Southern NJ
Chez Wat -- soul food/Chinese restaurant in Philly in 1970s

And, although the restaurant name was not unusual, the signs throughout central PA were and said (I kid you not):
"Stop at Mary's Kitchen for good food and gas" -- I assume it was a restaurant with a service station attached.

A Salt & Battery in West Village in NYC. It's a fish & chip place.
Rehab - a hip bar on Lafayette St.

Cabbage and Condoms Bangkok, Thailand

Cabbage & Condom Restaurant
Sukhumvit, Soi 12
Main/Specialty: Thai. Very nicely laid out – Eat in or outside – no they are not balloons on the walls. Condom photos everywhere, with lots of condom paraphernalia adorning the walls etc. (Started by the Minister for Family Planning (Khun Mechai) several years ago to heighten the awareness of safe sex) Heaps on offer with an English Menu. This is an enticing restaurant – it welcomes you from the Soi; the ambience is quiet and the decorations ‘interesting’. The check/bill came with a condom.

There's two places in Cave Creek, AZ (near Scottsdale) that serve really good BBQ - The Horny Toad and The Satisfied Frog.

Of course, there's the oft-discussed BBQ joint here in Van Nuys, Dr. Hogly Wogly's Tyler, Texas BBQ.

Ciao Mein was an Italian/Chinese place at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki (and a favorite of mine, esp. when I was in Turandot)

Wok 'n Roll Sushi is "da bomb" over in Old Town Pasadena.

Then there's Legal Seafood in Boston, as well as No Name Seafood.

I was passing through Tracy, CA about 15 years ago and passed a place called Paco's Chop Suey - Mexican/Chinese food. I did not stop.

the Letuce Entertain You chain in Chicago.
I have forgotten where, but I once saw a "Man Bites Dog" frankfurter stand.

[QUOTE=FlyinHawaiian]There's two places in Cave Creek, AZ (near Scottsdale) that serve really good BBQ - The Horny Toad and The Satisfied Frog.QUOTE]

Slightly OT:

I would not recommend the Horny Toad anymore. While they make some fine BBQ sauce, their prices are becoming outrageous. Last time I was there they wanted over $35 for a single rack of ribs.

Better head down Scottsdale Rd and head to Grilled Expedition at Desert Ridge which IMHO has the best ribs in the Valley right now. Not really BBQ ribs per se (They're basted in a Hoisin-Coffee sauce) but damn are they tender. The meat just falls off when you pick up the rib.

There's two places in Cave Creek, AZ (near Scottsdale) that serve really good BBQ - The Horny Toad and The Satisfied Frog.
Not really BBQ ribs per se (They're basted in a Hoisin-Coffee sauce) but damn are they tender. The meat just falls off when you pick up the rib.

Even more OT:

If tender ribs is what you're looking for, don't stop by this back yard late tonight. Doing them nice and dry today in the smoker today. =)

And now back in the direction of Slightly OT:

And I wasn't impressed with The Horny Toad 5 years ago.

And now OnT:

"He's Not Here" on Harlem in Forest Park. Well, actually, more of a bar, but they served pub grub. Too bad they're not there any more. Wonder if they changed the sign to "We're Not Here" the day they closed.

There is a chain of Chinese restaurants here in Madrid called "Thong" and a well known bar called "Cock."

Both are very normal/mainstream places and the meanings seem to be lost on the Spanish...

There is a Chinese place on Fairfax in L.A. called Genghis Cohen.

No word on the quality of their matzoh.

There is a Chinese place on Fairfax in L.A. called Genghis Cohen.

No word on the quality of their matzoh.

I swear I was JUST gonna mention this place. Never been but I LOVE the name of the place.

My dad used to go to a pub in the Hague called "the office" :)

Chi-Chi's

Which in Spanish it stands for

"Tits" :D

Imagine coming home and telling my wife where I went :o

<SLAP>

Thank God they don't have one in ELP ;)

The Hard Disk Cafe, in Silicon Valley of course!

there is a store in San Diego called "Dick's Liquor."

Sorry, makes me chuckle every time.

A Chinese restaurant called Foody Goody in Renton, WA. Typical low cost Chinese buffet. Name is good but food is, well, it won't cause your demise.

A local Chinese restaurant near mum and dad's called "Pooh Ping Palace". hmm...

There was a place in Ventura County (either Camarillo, Oxnard or Ventura, my sister would know but I'm too lazy to call her to ask) called Dukes Btich'in Burgers (letters scrambled so as to show up). AWESOME burgers too!!

In town, there is a Yum Yum Good Chinese restaurant.

Our office moved to a small rural crossroads (great place for a software development business), so the general question of the day is 'Which gas station would you like to eat in today?', since there are only a couple of real restaurants within a 10 mile radius.

However, up the road aways is the 'Country Goodies and Oak Furniture' where you can get a peanut butter and jam sandwich for $1.09 (your choice of jam!) or a bologna sandwich for $1.39. I guess that counts as a restaurant. They do also sell oak furniture.

"The Bar F Saloon" somewhere in Wyoming. I sent a picture of their sign to National Lampoon.

From National Lampoon, "Peni's Grocery"

In the Vietnamese section of San Diego you will find "A Dong Restaurant"

Don't order the sausage. :eek:

There used to be a place in Rossville, IN called the Sanitary Lunch .

There used to be a place in Rossville, IN called the Sanitary Lunch .
There was one in Chicago also. And a 'sanitary seafood market'.

My favorite is a Chinese place in Portland just inside Chinatown off of Burnside. It's called Hung Far Low. I even stopped for a pic, figuring that no one would believe me. :D

Cabbage and Condoms Bangkok, Thailand

Cabbage & Condom Restaurant
Sukhumvit, Soi 12
This is an enticing restaurant – it welcomes you from the Soi; the ambience is quiet and the decorations ‘interesting’. The check/bill came with a condom.

Off to Bangkok next week, with another visit to this wonderful restaurant planned. My friend will be visiting BKK for the first time, so I hope she will like it.

It is very conveniently located to the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, which is where we will stay!

I am currently managing a restaurant/tavern known as the 999's (Three Nines Taven). The current owners, in their 44th year of ownership, don't know where the name came from .... they never changed it. Some say the previous owner won the establishment in a card came .... winning hand being 3 nines.

The Hang On Chinese Takeaway in Thatcham, Berks

The new student union bar at Uni was in the process of being renamed and there was a lot of support for renaming it 'The Library'...though some chump decided to name it 'The Brown Bar' :td:

My favorite is a Chinese place in Portland just inside Chinatown off of Burnside. It's called Hung Far Low. I even stopped for a pic, figuring that no one would believe me. :D
I was just browsing this thread wondering if someone would beat me to posting that place. I found it and ate there back in the '70's, and it was still around when I was in Portland a couple of years ago. The name struck me as humorous (for a Westerner) then and I still have a business card from them that I took with me for the same reason you took the photo.

Does anyone who understands the language know what the name means?

Surprised this one hasn't been mentioned:

Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn - Fairbanks, AK

The Hard Disk Cafe, in Silicon Valley of course!

That was also the name of the employee cafeteria of WordPerfect, back when it was headquartered in Orem, Utah (prior to its acquisiton by Novell and then Corel).

The Hang On Chinese Takeaway in Thatcham, Berks

The new student union bar at Uni was in the process of being renamed and there was a lot of support for renaming it 'The Library'...though some chump decided to name it 'The Brown Bar' :td:

Back in the 80's there WAS a bar named "The Library" in Tempe, AZ close to the campus of Arizona State University. Never been inside, so I can't say if it actually had anything to read.

Back in the 80's there WAS a bar named "The Library" in Tempe, AZ close to the campus of Arizona State University. Never been inside, so I can't say if it actually had anything to read.

Walked by that place last week. Still there. Some of my current customer's employees hang out there when they are in PHX on business.

There used to be a kosher chinese place in LA called Shalom Hunan.

There's also a bar (which became a restaurant - so the name no longer works quite as well) in Santa Monica called Father's Office.

Japanese restaurant in PDX...
Miso Hapi.

Of course there are all those coffee houses with interesting names:

Cuppa Joe, Jolt n' Bolt and Capitol Grounds -- all in DC, of course

I was just browsing this thread wondering if someone would beat me to posting that place. I found it and ate there back in the '70's, and it was still around when I was in Portland a couple of years ago. The name struck me as humorous (for a Westerner) then and I still have a business card from them that I took with me for the same reason you took the photo.

Does anyone who understands the language know what the name means?

Assuming its phonetic Cantonese, which it seems to be, then it could be Red Flower Lounge/Place

There is a restaurant at 2, The Mall in Bristol called 'Omnibus'. Not hilarious, but it takes a while to get the (admittedly feeble) joke.

Among the many Thai restaurants in Newtown, Sydney, there seems to be a contest to use the worst possible pun. Beau Thai, Thai Foon, Old School Thai, Thai Pinn... I believe that somewhere, there is even a 'Thai a Yellow Ribbon'...

Finally, and slightly off topic, a friend, who took a holiday in Bangladesh, returned with a photo of a blackboard advertising a restaurant: "Come and visit our lovely garden, far from the maddening crows!"

And if we're allowed to mention pubs and bars...

One of my favourite images (as rough as the pub is) is a pub in Paisley (in the West of Scotland) called the 'Elbow Room'. They even have an extension called 'More Elbow Room'.

There are then numerous 'Drift Inn' type places. There is a pub on the Grassmarket in Edinburgh called the 'Last Drop'. This name obtains its macabre humour when you realise that it is so called due to the former presence of gallows just outside...

And if we're allowed to mention pubs and bars...

One of my favourite images (as rough as the pub is) is a pub in Paisley (in the West of Scotland) called the 'Elbow Room'. They even have an extension called 'More Elbow Room'.

There are then numerous 'Drift Inn' type places. There is a pub on the Grassmarket in Edinburgh called the 'Last Drop'. This name obtains its macabre humour when you realise that it is so called due to the former presence of gallows just outside...

There was a bar in SanFrancisco called 'Club Foot'.

There was a bar in SanFrancisco called 'Club Foot'.

Don't tread on me!


Your signature made that all the better...

I forgot about all the "Thai"-ins. :D
A new restaurant in DC is Thai-tanic.

When I was a kid at the Jersey shore, there was a cafeteria-style restaurant that was part of a laundromat (coin operated washers and dryers to do your own laundry). It was all in one big room and it was called ....
The Washeteria. I used to think that was the coolest name (hey, I was a kid). Still giggle when I think of it.

There's a bar / lounge close to our university campus called Plan B (http://www.planb-bar.ch). Referring to lectures as Plan A, we find ourselves chosing Plan B more and more... :D

There's a bar / lounge close to our university campus called Plan B (http://www.planb-bar.ch). Referring to lectures as Plan A, we find ourselves chosing Plan B more and more... :D

Strange you should say that - there's one just up the road in Brixton (http://www.plan-brixton.co.uk/) too...

There's a bar up the road from that called 'Tongue 'n' Groove', which I also like.

I had a pub in Toronto pointed out to me. It was called the Duke of Edinburgh, a pub staple as names go. Locally referred to as 'the Duke', it sports a massive mural of John Wayne...

How could I forget one of my college hangouts: Harry's Chocolate Shop (or The Chocolate Shop when talking to parents). During prohibition, Harry's was an ice cream parlor. After prohibition was repealed, it reverted back to being a bar, but the name stuck.

How could I forget one of my college hangouts: Harry's Chocolate Shop (or The Chocolate Shop when talking to parents). During prohibition, Harry's was an ice cream parlor. After prohibition was repealed, it reverted back to being a bar, but the name stuck.


I was just thinking about that one! (Admittedly it was tough explaining to the parents the Harry's "go ugly early" shirts...) Don't forget Suds...the bar next to the laundromat which was near Chauncey & State (I think)

the Letuce Entertain You chain in Chicago.

Some of their past restaurants include:

Bones (ribs)
Great Gritzbee's Flying Food Show
Jonathon Livingston Seafood
Lawrence of Oregano

The above post reminded of this new-gone restaurant in the Philly burbs
It's About Thyme

and the hot-dogs-n'-beer pub (which may be a chain)
Frank-n-Stein's

Don't know if it's still there, but there was a topless donut shop in Fort Collins named "Debbie Does Donuts"

I really like The Stinking Rose (http://www.thestinkingrose.com/), a restaurant in San Francisco that features a lot of garlic (i mean a lot of garlic! :)) They have "vampire fare" on the menu (if you want it served without garlic) :)

HAAA! These are good! :D

Hmm... what can I add... well, I've always gotten a kick out of the "Frank & Stein" (hot dog and beer) stands at the airport.... and for Thai puns, around here there's a THAIPHOON.

One that really made me laugh (but made others groan!) was a seafood restaurant in Miami called "Sea Señor" ("si, señor," or "yes, sir"). I don't know if that's still there. Another one I liked that was maybe not really funny but still clever was "Darwin's Theory" in Anchorage, AK, where the logo was of a monkey sitting in "The Thinker" pose holding a human skull. I had a great ashtray from that place that a lousy ex boyfriend kept.... GRRRRR :mad: ;)

Finally, some that I never thought were funny (weird, yes; humorous, no) but others really get a kick out of when I mention them are the bars from my college days at the U. of Florida, most notably the Purple Porpoise -- which behind it had "The Lavender Mullet" (and no, these were not gay bars, ha!). These were owned by the same people who owned The Copper Monkey. :confused:

ETA: skofarrell, yes, the Stinking Rose!!! Great place! :)

The last time we were in London we ate at "The Slug & Lettuce", in the theater district. I think it is a chain.
Particularly funny for us, as we have some BIG Banana Slugs here in Humboldt County, CA.
Kate

Springfield, Illinois: Lox, Stock and Bagel

I really like The Stinking Rose (http://www.thestinkingrose.com/), a restaurant in San Francisco that features a lot of garlic (i mean a lot of garlic! :)) They have "vampire fare" on the menu (if you want it served without garlic) :)

Mmmm I love The Stinking Rose. We have one in LA too.

http://www.funnysign.com/funnysign_044.htm

I don't remember where I saw it, but...
'Seoul Man'

There's a small Irish pub in Las Vegas called "Three Angry Wives". Thought that was kind of funny.

I did a double take when I saw the sign for this Chinese place in Honolulu (not far from the U of Hawaii)...

Fook Yuen

A lot of the Chinese ones have very pointless and basicly random names.

-Destination Restaurant
-Excellent Wok
-Visage Cuisine




Can't forget this one: :D
http://www.dannoll.com/Photos-2001-2002/Europe%20Trips%202002/slides/phat.html

If pronounced incorrectly it could sound like a bad word. Killer resturant on 2nd St in Long Beach.

Restaurant in Richmond, VA in the late 70's called "I Dunno". Another one opened up a couple miles away called, "I Dunno Either".

Hard Wreck Café, Ueno, Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia. Near the Truk Stop hotel and restaurant.

(Chuuk, previously known as Truk, is one of THE destinations for wreck divers, as there are about 60 diveable WWII wrecks littering the lagoon floor.)

I've always wanted to open my own place.
I'd call it HigherFlyer's Hash House.
Pot pies, pot stickers, pot roast!
Hash browns, turkey hash, corned beef hash!
4-2-0 breakfast special! (four strips, two eggs, and "no thank's I'm toast already!")
No shirt, no shoes...NO PROBLEM!

A lot of the Chinese ones have very pointless and basicly random names.

-Destination Restaurant
-Excellent Wok
-Visage Cuisine


Or, the classic all-night one: 'Wok around the Clock'...

There is a Chinese place on Fairfax in L.A. called Genghis Cohen...

The Chinese/deli combo isn't all that rare, and many of the names are chosen to match. "Moishe Peking" and "Ginzberg & Wong" come to mind, though I don't know if either is still in business.

And there used to be (maybe still is)? a Scottsdale, Ariz., restaurant called "The Other Place." Great for those "let's not go there, let's go to..." discussions.

Surprised this one hasn't been mentioned:

Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn - Fairbanks, AK


Another good one in Alaska....

The Elbow Room

in Dutch Harbor out in the Aleutians. I was there about 10 years ago and don't know if it still exists. Big hangout for the toughest guys in the world....Bering Sea fisherman and Crabbers. There was at least one fist- or knife-fight per evening.

Another good one in Alaska....

The Elbow Room...

After walking past another Elbow Room pub this past weekend in Bristol, Rhode Island, I googled the name. It's pretty popular. Well-known U.S. cities with Elbow Rooms include New York, Dallas, Fresno and Indianapolis on the first two pages of hits alone. There are many others worldwide, including at least two in different parts of London.

BTW, we didn't stop in because we were heading to the Hot Point restaurant down the block. It might qualify for this thread too. The decor includes lots of old ads for Hotpoint appliances, including stoves. I didn't ask if they use one.

Chi-Chi's

Thank God they don't have one in ELP ;)


.... and that ELP has places with better Mexican food! :eek:


Took some out-of-town friends around Phx this weekend, and in addition to climbing to the top of Camelback Mountain ^ ^ we saw:

-- My Big Fat Greek Restaurant (http://www.azeats.com/mybigfatgreek) in Scottsdale and Tempe, and

-- Sushi and Rock (http://www.sushinrock.com/index.html)-- imagine a Hard Rock Cafe with karaoke and sushi. If you can. ;)

-- Cooperstown (http://www.alicecooperstown.com): A sports bar owned by none other than Alice Cooper. ;)

I have a good one. There is a restuarant that is about to open in Atlanta called:
Two Urban Licks.. I have no idea how they got that name.

HAVMOR in many cities.

OK - not exactly a restaurant, but I'm partial to the "Karki Pussi" candy store chain in Finland. :D

I was passing through Tracy, CA about 15 years ago and passed a place called Paco's Chop Suey - Mexican/Chinese food. I did not stop.

I lived in Tracy for a couple years, left 6 years ago, and remember no such restaurant name. I'm sure it deservedly ceased operations. I did have the worst pizza in my life in Tracy in a pizzeria that adjoined an Indian restaurant with a common kitchen.

I also remember seeing a restaurant on Haight Street in San Francisco named Squat and Gobble.

Seen yesterday in Burlington, Vermont: a pub named What Ales You and a coffee shop named Uncommon Grounds.

Speaking of the BTV area, my customer would take us to a hole-in-the-wall called the Spanked Puppy in Colchester. Great hot-wings!

A bit closer to home is a Vietnamese soup place called Pho Kim Long, keeping in mind how you pronounce "Pho". ;)

Seen yesterday in Burlington, Vermont: a pub named What Ales You and a coffee shop named Uncommon Grounds.

I was always partial to the "Stoned Crab" in Freeport (Grand Bahama).

There used to be a "Barca Lounge" in NYC somewhere, IIRC.

I've always found "Fatburger" to be apropos.

The "Church Brew Works," while not a particularly funny name, is a rather unique place (a microbrew in a former catholic church, with the brew works itself on the alter).

Select evenings in the parking lot of the Macau Ferry Terminal Hong Kong Island. Not just a place to get very unusual things to eat, but also a unique international Flee Market like you have never seen before. A fun night out when visiting Hong Kong.

Second name woild be of course " The Jumbo " A floating Restaurant not far away from the above, that seats 3,000 people on 3 different levels. To get their take a double decker bus feon the Star Ferry dock, sit on the upper level, for the ride of your life. Rollercoasters in the USA pale in comparison to this bus ride !!!!!

There was one in Detroit called "Nacho Daddy". Also a favorite hangout for personnel at the hospital I used to work at was called "The Recovery Room".

Forgot about this one in DC. Used to the med school's hangout at GWU in the 1980s:

"The 21st Amendment" -- the one that repealed Prohibition.

Cabbage and Condoms Bangkok, Thailand

Cabbage & Condom Restaurant
Sukhumvit, Soi 12
Main/Specialty: Thai. Very nicely laid out – Eat in or outside – no they are not balloons on the walls. Condom photos everywhere, with lots of condom paraphernalia adorning the walls etc. (Started by the Minister for Family Planning (Khun Mechai) several years ago to heighten the awareness of safe sex) Heaps on offer with an English Menu. This is an enticing restaurant – it welcomes you from the Soi; the ambience is quiet and the decorations ‘interesting’. The check/bill came with a condom.

Should go at least once, but, like most tourist places, food is mediocre. Tom yung goong is a good index food for Thai eateries- it sucks here.

NYC: Cajun place owned and run by Asians: "How's Bayou"

Oh yeah- there's another touristy kind of restaurant, Bangkok, Thailand, on Convent Rd., off Silom, near Patpong Night Market: Prik Kee Nuu

Means Rat Sh*t Chili (the truly hot variety)

Oh yeah- there's another touristy kind of restaurant, Bangkok, Thailand, on Convent Rd., off Silom, near Patpong Night Market: Prik Kee Nuu

Means Rat Sh*t Chili (the truly hot variety)

Its not the most encouraging sight when you're halfway through your dinner and you look at the window to see the huge picture of a fat jolly-looking rat staring down at you :D

Also off Soi Convent is a restaurant called the Eat Me Art Restaurant, located upstairs of an art gallery of the same name. Apparently very popular with the gay clientele...

I was in Salzburg, Austria in 2000. While trying to find an Irish pub, I walked past a bar/club or whatever called HELL.

Not as hilarious but elegant in its simplicity is the lighted sign on a 50-foot pole posted at an exit on Westbound I-84 somewhere around Boise as I recall. It contains six letters only so is visible for upwards of a quarter mile:

E A T
G A S

Despite many trips on this Interstate, so far I've managed to resist the temptation to stop in. Any recommendations? :)

How about "Air Raid Shelter," a bar in Tokyo (maybe Ueno?)

Yesterday while driving on Hwy. 206 near Chester NJ, there was a roach-coach type vehicle parked near a VFW post called "The Wee Wee Wagon" (with a couple of dancing hotdogs painted on the side).

Forgot about this one in DC. Used to the med school's hangout at GWU in the 1980s:

"The 21st Amendment" -- the one that repealed Prohibition.

One with the same name in San Francisco, site of an FT get together about a year or so ago.

In Ueno, Tokyo there is a bar near the subway station called "The Church"

A Chinese eatery in Cambridge called Poo Poo Hot Pot. Somehow with that name, I did not go in.

Norman, Oklahoma has a bar named "The Library", right across the street from the OU campus.

There's a sandwich joint in OKC called "Someplace Else".

Neither is particularly suggestive of either cuisine or entertainment, but they do sorta spell out a student's choice, "Ya wanna go to the Library or Someplace Else?"

Legal Grounds, a store front law office and coffee bistro in east Dallas!

Forgot about this one in DC. Used to the med school's hangout at GWU in the 1980s:

"The 21st Amendment" -- the one that repealed Prohibition.
Not a restaurant, but there's a jazz club in DC called "HR 57" - named for House Concurrent Resolution 57 honoring jazz as "a rare and valuable national American treasure"

Chunky Monkey Newport, RI. Excellent food. In NYC Chat and Chew.

In Wash DC, there is a chain of coffee bars called 'Capitol Grounds' -- only in DC.

And one of my favorite coffee bars is "Jolt 'n' Bolt".

A Chinese eatery in Cambridge called Poo Poo Hot Pot. Somehow with that name, I did not go in.

Good call. Pu Pu Hot Pot is hands down the worst Chinese restaurant in the Boston area, and it has a lot of competition for that title.

There's a bar in Fell's Point in Baltimore called "The Horse You Rode In On".
Mr. GradGirl used to call it "The Horse You Went Home With".

There's also a great place to stay in Fell's Point, "The Admiral Fell Inn"

Crabby Dick's in Key West

:eek:

I recently found a coffee-house operation in Arlington, TX called Atomic Grounds.

In Little Rock, AR (presumably near the court house) is Sufficient Grounds.

Aesop's Tables in Wellfleet (Cape Cod), Mass.

"Dick's Last Resort"; home of the Big A$$ Beer
http://www.dickslastresort.com/

"Like Like" - Honolulu, a small local spot we frequented near Ala Moana. I always laughed when hearing tourists call it the Like Like as in "I like that ..." vs. Licky Licky as in "quick quick".

"St. James Infirmary" (restaurant) - Mtn. View, CA, http://latc.com/1996/07/22/special_sect/mtnview2.html
atmosphere vs. food was the draw
Not to be confused with St James Infirmary, a comprehensive health & occupational injury clinic for sex workers up the road in San Francisco. http://www.stjamesinfirmary.org/


"Liquor and Redemption Center" Seen on June road trip in Maine (forgot town) sold liquor & redeemed empty souls or was it bottles & cans???

"Like Like" - Honolulu, a small local spot we frequented near Ala Moana. I always laughed when hearing tourists call it the Like Like as in "I like that ..." vs. Licky Licky as in "quick quick".


A bit of history: Princess Likelike (lee-keh-lee-keh) was a member of Hawaiian royalty, the younger sister of Princess Liliuokalani, and a leader of the music society scene in Hawaii.

You've probably also seen her namesake highway, just off the H1, between HNL and Waikiki.

BTW, it's wiki-wiki (wee-kee-wee-kee) that means "very quick."

This is probably more than you ever wanted to know about Likelike and wiki-wiki. ;)

latahz...

[QUOTE=ntamayo]
BTW, it's wiki-wiki (wee-kee-wee-kee) that means "very quick."
QUOTE]

As in the shuttle between the main and inter-island termnals at HNL? I'm at odds with myself about whether or not the name fits ... I s'pose sometimes yes, sometimes no. (We need an emoticon for "Hang loose!") ;)

BTW, it's wiki-wiki (wee-kee-wee-kee) that means "very quick."

This is probably more than you ever wanted to know about Likelike and wiki-wiki. ;) latahz...

Yelp, wiki-wiki is really the correct phrase for very quick. ^

Using LikeLike for "quickie quickie" is a 'personal thing' hubby & I started years ago when visiting Honolulu every few months. We always headed to Like Like for a huge bowl of saimin & food at good prices vs. paying "fine dining" prices. We spent our fine dining $$ at the La Ronde, which I understand, is now named Top of Waikiki. It was a pleasant surprise when google revealed both were still in business. I haven't visited either on more recent trips. :(

FWIW, La Ronde was the world's 1st revolving restaurant (1961). The designer/builder opened another atop the Seattle Space Needle the following year. History must begin somewhere. :)

The "Gobble 'n Go" on the Royal Mile in EDI. Looked like a dive -- did not try it!

RTA

Forgot about this one in DC. Used to the med school's hangout at GWU in the 1980s:

"The 21st Amendment" -- the one that repealed Prohibition.
Speaking of Prohibition...
There's a bar/restaurant in NYC (Columbus and 84th iirc) called Prohibition. I met the owner at a tradeshow and went by the restaurant on my next trip to the city. Live music every night. We had a blast.

There was the Dew Drop Inn t Greenwich and Perry in the Village in NYC. I used to go there when a student in the 1980s...used to be known for having bottled beer from just about everywhere in the world...

There used to be a number of "Road Kill Cafe's" in rural Maine. The hyperlink is the menu from the one in Greenville Junction. I ate at one in Rangeley Lakes a while back.


http://www.frivolity.com/teatime/Miscellaneous/road_kill_cafe_menu.txt

Hung Far Low restaurant in Portland's Chinatown...

How about what should be FT's favorite fast food chain in Amsterdam: FEBO! Proof it doesn't really matter where you sit... :D

There were some nice ones in Asia:

"Yu Khee Seafood" in Singapore.
"Ah Choo Noodle House" in Hong Kong.
"Mr. Thong from Bangkok" in Yokohama.

And a bar called "Wasted Time" in Tokyo's Shibuya District.

Plus, in northern New Jersey, a trophy shop run by a guy called Mr. Apo. It was called Apo's Trophies.

Pho King Giant - Vietnamese Restaurant, Warren, Michigan

:rolleyes:

The Rock and Sole Plaice, a fish and chips shop in Covent Garden London.

Already mentioned the FUK MI sushi in New Zeland? I wonder how they would answer the phone....

Great Place called "Seoul Food" in Porter Square in Cambridge, MA.

W

"Ho Lee Chow" chain of Chinese food in Canada

Seen yesterday in Burlington, Vermont: a pub named What Ales You and a coffee shop named Uncommon Grounds.

Glad to see my state represented, but I must add:

Wok-n-Roll in Morrisville, VT

and for the Dems:

The Howard Bean Cafe in Montpelier, VT. It's a scream!

:)

There used to be a restaurant on the highway just outside
Whitefish, Montana on the way north to Canada called
"La Dump". We actually ate there one time on the way back from Skiing at Big Mountain. It was pretty good!
Don't know if its still there or not-it was on the corner of the sideroad to the dump, I think. On the sign under the name it said "nip & nibble" and had a picture of a couple of crows picking on a pile of something!!

:p

We like "Hippopotame" or Hippopotamus en anglais. Actually this is a chain of French restaurants. We've also noticed at French cafes, there is a brand of coffee called "Choky." :D

At least when I was a kid (may no longer exist), at the northeast corner of IN-39 and US-20 north of LaPorte, IN (where I grew up), perhaps not unusual or funny, but efficiently concise:
Eat

A restaurant/gas station on US-31 just north of Kokomo, IN:
Eat Here
and
Get Gas

"Sacred Chow", in Greenwich Village is a vegan deli and bakery. Heavenly sticky buns.

About 8 years ago on Sentosa Island, Singapore there was a small chinese restaurant / cafe called

Golden Showers

I think everythingelse I've ever seen comes a poor 2nd to that one, this restaurant name is No.1 ! :D

'Puffy Taco' just south of MCI. Never eaten there, but the name makes me giggle.

Hu Dat in Rockport, TX. Family restaurant owned by Dallas Cowboys Linebacker Dat Nguyen.

A restaurant in TLV called "CoffeeBar", which is actually a 5* amazing restaurant.

one of my friends told me he wanted us to go there, and I was like... "coffeebar?" I was very glad we went.

There was one in Detroit called "Nacho Daddy". Also a favorite hangout for personnel at the hospital I used to work at was called "The Recovery Room".

There's a local chain in Richmond, Virginia named "Nacho Mama's". And, in Detroit, there's an Irish pub named "O'Blivion's".

Richmond, Virginia has "Comfort", a wonderful restaurant that serves great southern comfort food.... chicken, meat loaf, greens. Love to go there when I'm in town.

And on a related note :)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=200851

We were in Panama, NY (near the NY/PA border in Chautauqua County - Jamestown area) and ate at a place called the Slurp and Burp because it was the only thing open.

Food was not memorable, but the place name was.

Half Fast Subs in Boulder, CO. (Say it out loud if you don't get it)

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7520/4.0.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 UP.Browser/5.0.3.3 UP.Link/5.1.2.16)

Is Derek Jeter's Taco Hole still open?

Cabbages and condoms in Bangkok Thailand.

http://www.gonomad.com/features/0011/snedaker_cabbages.html

Dirty Dick's Crabhouse...

I waitressed there for 1 summer and if I did not say "Welcome to Dirty Dick's Crabhouse"... hence leaving out the word 'Crabhouse' I would have been fired because the word 'crabhouse' made it a family restaurant :confused: ...

I did a double take when I saw the sign for this Chinese place in Honolulu (not far from the U of Hawaii)...

Fook Yuen

There's a restaurant of the same name in Burlingame, near SFO.

One of my favorite Hong Kong style cafes in the Los Angeles region is the Tasty House in the City of Industry.

I was passing through Tracy, CA about 15 years ago and passed a place called Paco's Chop Suey - Mexican/Chinese food. I did not stop.


I'm in Brentwood, just 15 minutes from Tracy and I visit there often, I'm gonna check into it and see if its still there...LOL

I lived in Tracy for a couple years, left 6 years ago, and remember no such restaurant name. I'm sure it deservedly ceased operations. I did have the worst pizza in my life in Tracy in a pizzeria that adjoined an Indian restaurant with a common kitchen.

I also remember seeing a restaurant on Haight Street in San Francisco named Squat and Gobble.

I have a friend who delivers the food to the Squat and Gobble and he was telling me about it last year. Up until then I'd never heard of it and I think its a great name for a gay bar..lol

Cheeky Monkey. Located in Newport, RI.

www.engrish.com

"Pub Smell"
"Sex Pot"

Mo' Pho Vietnamese

--Fort Lee NJ.

Cockyporters, it's a hamburger stand in Miamisburg Oh, small round (not square) burgers deep fried in a wok type device with pickles a thick slice of onion and mustard, Too Die For!!! It's in the center of the city in the round-a-bout, don't worry there's only one, and the locals probably don't know what a round-a-bout is, better stick to cirle in the town center. Couldn't get Wurst! :)

Pink Taco -- Scottsdale, AZ

Chester Drawers -- Costa Mesa CA.

When technically registered as the politically correct name, Al's Place, the restaurant is more commonly known as "Al The Wop's".

Total dive, in a 1890's migrant workers village on the California Delta.

http://www.locketown.com/als.htm

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/whereweeat/stern_wops.html

Have you have eaten at or come across a restaurant with an unusual or funny name? Lots of time the name is more intriguing than the menu, and it is usually the thing you remember long after?


Buzzard Billy's Armadillo Bar & Grillo

and long ago, no resturant but performance venue of note...

The Armadillo World Headquarters

and once across the sea...

Nefer's Titty

When technically registered as the politically correct name, Al's Place, the restaurant is more commonly known as "Al The Wop's".

Total dive, in a 1890's migrant workers village on the California Delta.

http://www.locketown.com/als.htm

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/whereweeat/stern_wops.html


Sounds like a former iDine joint here in Seattle: Two Dagos From Texas.

I haven't seen any mention of "Gandhiji Bar & Grill" in NYC. That one has thrown my South Asian pals for a loop.

There were two restaurants in Gainesville, FL that I used to love the name of:

Chinee Takee Outee (chinese food, duh)

and

Cluck U! (chicken place)

Road Kill Cafe in Bartlett, NH
McKim's Pub in Seoul
and Tail o' the Pup (a rib joint) in Ray Brook, NY (west of Lake Placid on SR 86)
Pickles Place (home of the Atomic Burger) in Arco, ID

Any motor sports fans will be familiar with Quaker State oil products. 30 years ago during the oil crunch some guys shut down a gas station and opened Quaker Steak and Lube (http://www.quakersteakandlube.com/). Visited one of them a few years ago and it was great. Careful of the Atomic Wings. You'll have to sign a release form to order them. ;)

There's a local chain in Richmond, Virginia named "Nacho Mama's". And, in Detroit, there's an Irish pub named "O'Blivion's".


Nacho Mama's has really good margaritas but yes it is a weird name!

In Mass:
Bunghole Liquors, Peabody, Ma right next to a church
Clam Shaven, The sign orginally read Clam Haven, but somebody climbed up on the sign and painted an 'S' and painted a beard on one of the clams/ They used to have liks on http://www.marshfieldsbest.com but that was years ago

Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville, Kentucky

A very funky, groovy place :)

Dinosaur BBQ in Sycracuse, New York.

One would think it would be a cutesy place from the name, but far from it.

Very cool, hoppin' place :)

Pink Taco -- Scottsdale, AZ

I thought this was a cute name when I first saw it here. I guess my mind is just too clean, one accusation Mrs. Fredd has never made against me:

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dining/articles/0422pinktaco.html

In PDX: Bettie Ford Lounge , doing a big business in cocktails, with a 70s/hospital theme.

In Torrance, CA: Rice Queen Restaurant . I stopped and took a picture of it (http://static.flickr.com/16/22103465_615c18be4a_o.jpg)

In Bellevue, WA: What the Pho?

This year's birthday cake came from Yummy House, which isn't affiliated with Yummie Bites (which recently changed its name from UDublicious), near Seattle's UW.

Already mentioned the FUK MI sushi in New Zeland? I wonder how they would answer the phone....

I've seen a restaurant by this name in Quito, Ecuador. Perhaps it's a hip and in name :p

I'm not traveling there myself, but while making an itinerary for supervisor's trip to Guelph, Ontario, discovered there's a Chinese restaurant on the campus she's visiting called Wok-a-thon.

I've been LOLing all day and everyone believes I'm crazy (they're probably right :D ). What do y'all think? Funny? Not?

On a recent trip in Normandy, we came across "Auberge a la grace de Dieu" --

the "by-the-grace-of-God inn."

In Seattle, we have "Thai One On."

"Ho Lee Chow" chain of Chinese food in Canada

Similar to Hoe Kow Chinese restaurant in Doral, FL.

Dicks in Myrtle Beach, SC.

----
I haven't been since a young young child, I recall it being funny but kinda gross. My family never went back to that beach or restaurant....

GLUTTONS was by my old neighborhood near Vancouver, GRUEL in Taiwan

Pittsburgh's Strip District was once the home of the "My Dung" chinese restaurant which closed many years ago.

Following up on the liquor store names, one of my favorites is the "Godloves Discount Liquors" in Hagerstown, MD.

In Barcelona the Omm Hotel house restaurant is Moo. Rooms are designed for style not usability, but the restaurant was nice.

Cheers,
Jeff

There is a district of Solihull (just south of Birmingham, UK) called Shirley and one of the local chinese restaurants is called The Shirley Temple.

In Aberdeen there is a bar in a basement beneath an auctioneers called Under The Hammer.

Some friends of mine went to the "Javan Restaurant" in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. Not ureasonably they were hoping to experience some Javan cuisine for the first time.

Turned out that Javan = Home in Farsi. My friends enjoyed a lovely meal and it turned out that the owners had never thought that the name of the restaurant might be misleading!

As a Bugs Bunny fan, the month I worked in Burlingame, CA I frequented "Left at Albuquerque". Good southwestern food.

Also liked "Cafe Chino" in Houston.

I have always wanted to eat at Kung Pao Kitty in LA but have never been able to do so. I love the name.

My cousin used to waitress at a place called Tequila Mockingbird.
I think it was in Albuquerque or El Paso...

"Half-Fast Subs"...Bouder, CO - west of Denver.

In Tacoma, WA: Sar's Oriental Cuisine (http://www.foodry.com/restaurant/Sars-Oriental-Cuisine-Tacoma-WA/188540)

Big Mouth Kee - Richmond Hill (Toronto suburb)

There was a Chinese restaurant I used to frequent in East London which went by the name of Fook Yeu.
They opened up a second restaurant nearby called ...you've guessed it .. Fook Yeu 2.

There is one near SFO with a similar name called Fook Yuen.

A favorite from the Cheltenham section of North Philadelphia is:

Sid Bunker's Shrimp Mobile.

Trust me, never get a meal from a shrimp "restaurant" that drives around in a beat up 1975 UPS stlye delivery truck.

on that crustacean note... me, my sister, and our friend used to pass by some ghetto looking dive called Miley & Miley's Shrimp Shack, in a ghetto-ish part of Detroit on the way to/ from the clubs. My sister and I always thought that that was a rather unappetizing name for a restaurant, but our friend would BEG to get some shrimp to-go every time she saw it. Goes to show that there is no accounting for taste. ;)

I did a double take when I saw the sign for this Chinese place in Honolulu (not far from the U of Hawaii)...

Fook Yuen

Fook Yuen Seafood!! It's on the corner of McCully and King, or maybe McCully and Beretania, IIRC.

The un-PC named "Chink's Bar & Restaurant" in Cannes, France.
"Troll's Bar" in Chapel Hill, NC